Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs

Secretary Powell Notes Importance of International Exchanges in Remarks to U.S. Chamber of Commerce
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In his speech "Securing the Future of Travel and Tourism" to the Second Annual Summit of the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, May 12, 2004, Secretary Powell focused on the Department's Secure Borders, Open Doors policy. He also devoted a significant portion of the speech to ECA programs, recognizing their value to U.S. interests. Below is an excerpt from the speech. (The full transcript is available at http://www.state.gov/secretary/rm/32431pf.htm.)

"The picture is mixed with respect to student visas. The number of international students enrolled in the United States has grown each year, even in the post-9/11 period, but the rate of increase has slowed down. The international market for students is much more competitive than it used to be: France, Germany, elsewhere in the world, Australia, students have a broad choice. And clearly, we have to do a better job of attracting them here, attracting the world's rising generation to come study in America, come learn our values, come learn what kind of a people we are and take all of that back with you, as well as whatever education you picked up.

In February, for example, I welcomed to the State Department 25 Fulbright pioneers from a newly free Iraq. We've issued the first 25 Fulbright scholarships to Iraq now that it has rejoined the family of nations. And I wish you could have seen these wonderful people. They are now in some of our best universities. They're studying law, they're studying business, they're involving themselves in public health education, in journalism, public administration, education and environmental science, picking up the skills they need to go back to what will be a democratic Iraq and help to rebuild that country.

Where else would I have wanted these youngsters to go, and not so youngsters, as it turned out? Where else would I want them to go, but to the United States of America? What other values would I want them to pick up, except the values and the education that they pick up here in the United States? These young Iraqis are so full of hope for the future and they are absolutely determined to return to their country and contribute to its reconstruction.

I reminded the students that other Fulbrighters just like them had risen to the challenge of leadership when their countries made historic transitions to democracy. Fulbright scholars stood at the forefront of Poland's first post-communist government. Poland's Foreign Minister is a Fulbrighter. A Fulbrighter helped to lead East Timor's struggle for independence. President Toledo of Peru is also a former Fulbrighter.

More than 200 of the State Department's International Visitor Program participants have become heads of state or government. What a record. Among those leaders: Prime Minister Tony Blair of the United Kingdom, President Megawati of Indonesia, President Saakashvili, the new President of Georgia, who proudly tells me about the education he received here in the United States, and most of the members of his cabinet have been exposed to our international programs for education. President Konare, the former President of Mali and now the Chairman of the African Union Commission is also one of those graduates of our programs. It is likely that tomorrow's leaders are among the 30,000 men and women who participate each year in our State Department exchange programs.

Perhaps the next generation of leaders from the Arab and Muslim world will be found among the students selected for our Partnerships for Learning Initiative. Partnerships for Learning is an outreach effort that we put in place in the wake of 9/11. Under this initiative, 160 young people from predominantly Islamic countries are now studying at American high schools and living in American homes, and over 70 undergraduates from the Middle East countries are studying at American universities.
I had some of these young high school students into my dining room a few months back for an Iftaar dinner. And rather than just have intellectuals and people from the think tank community around me at this dinner I said, "Well, just go get some young people. You know, c'mon. I'm an old geezer. Give me some young people to have dinner with." (Laughter.)

And they sat these high school students around the table with me, and they were all Muslim, all representing the various parts of the Muslim world, and it was such an experience for me to sit and talk to them and tell them about the American experience; tell them about the American immigrant experience; tell them about the diversity of our country; tell them about our value systems; tell them about the things they never will see in their television sets or not often enough. And when they left, I think they carried a little bit away from that dinner, but they carry a little bit away from every encounter they have for the year that they are here. And they will go back with a better feeling about our country, with a better understanding of what we stand for.

The personal and professional relationships that are developed during such exchanges can form a foundation of understanding and lasting partnerships, not just between young people, but between nations, between societies, between cultures.

By the same token, if we lose legitimate foreign scholars, if we lose them to procedural frustrations because it's too hard to get a visa, because they don't want to be bothered, because they're going to be hassled at the airport coming into the United States, we risk losing their goodwill, and that is a priceless thing to lose. The essential embracing spirit of America's attitude toward people is our greatest asset. And we must work together to ensure that our country remains a beacon for students, international tourists, immigrants, and business people."

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